1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to medical devices, and, more particularly, to inserter devices used during orthopedic surgeries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Intervertebral disc degeneration often leads to chronic lower back pain that occurs with aging. Due to variable spinal anatomy, it is often difficult to seat intervertebral body devices properly to support the best quality bone during surgery. Thus, poor placement and subsidence of implants can occur leading to implant failure and diseases of the spine such as kyphosis (e.g., a curvature of the upper spine which can be either the result of bad posture or a structural anomaly in the spine), and lordosis (e.g., an inward curvature of a portion of the vertebral column). This may also be due to abnormal loading patterns on the disc or inappropriate means of distracting the disc space. Passing various size footprints (e.g., use of multiple instruments such as standard footprints and height trials, multiple trial instruments, distractor and trial inserters, medical cage inserters, etc.) by sensitive vascular and neural anatomy can also cause damage to the structures leading to secondary morbidities.
The standard multiple footprint and height trial instruments require multiple passes by delicate anatomic structures if the correct size is not initially chosen. Further, they are also static in size, and only distract the disc space if an oversize trial is chosen. The combination distractor and trial inserters and cage implant inserters in general are typically large and bulky, and they only allow insertion of standard trial pre-assembled to the same instrument. Distraction maneuvers must be done separately. The wide tips must be inserted into the disc space and stay in a place while the trial is inserted through it. Such combination distractor and trial inserters require multiple assemblies and multiple passes of various trials if the proper size is not initially chosen since they cannot measure angle of deformity at the same time.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a distractor trial assembly that minimizes the number of assemblies and passes of trials for measuring the size and angle of an interbody implant.